A New Era
by PolarisWhatever
Summary: All the ancient heroes are dead, the goddesses forgotten and her castle has long turned into dust. The sky is blue, she is finally free and everything is peaceful. OS, kind of sequel to This time around.


A New Era

Candleinthebox

Rating: T

Drama, a little bit of Zelink. Kind of AU/futurefic but not really, can be taken as the sequel to "This time around". You don't really need to read it to understand, but then, as an author, it is only normal that I should pimp my work. Horribly short, as usual.

This fic has not been beta-read, so if you find any mistake, please feel free to tell me.

Feedback will be MUCH appreciated!

XXX

One sunny afternoon, tired of walking in the scorching heat with her heavy book bag, she decides to stop by a café to enjoy a cold drink and rest a little. And why not indulge in some ice cream, or even a cake while she is at it? She is supposed to be on a diet, but well, once in a while, it should be fine… The menu is cute, all pink with flower drawings, and most of the customers are high school girls in their summer uniforms chatting about annoying teachers and cute boys and laughing loudly. There are some young couples too, smiling shyly at each other, and she cannot help smiling too, thinking that this era sure is peaceful.

Then the waitress comes to take her order, her green hair tied up with a ribbon, and she feels the blood draining from her face, a familiar feeling twisting her stomach. She stands up abruptly and excuse herself, sorry, I changed my mind, I'm not thirsty anymore. The girl watches her walk away, astonished, and she tries to calm the rapid beating of her heart, because look, she does not recognize you, everything is fine, fine, fine. It is another time, another world, and you have to let it go now, nothing will happen. But it is all spoiled, the sun does not feel warm on her skin anymore, the sky does not look so blue, and when she finally arrives home, she throws herself on her bed, knowing that her sleep will not be peaceful at all.

When the girl with the rusty-coloured hair and the cheerful smile accosts her in the cafeteria, hey, can I sit here if you don't mind, oh, I've seen you in class before, you're taking the antique history course, that must be sooo interesting, she does not answer. She just keeps her eyes cast down and rise silently from her chair to leave, even though her plate is still half full. She can hear the girl's friends whispering behind her "Malon, you shouldn't try to talk to her, she always act so high and mighty like she's better than everybody else and doesn't talk to anyone, and you know, she's just, so _strange_". How the times have changed, she thinks coldly, unfazed by their meaningless chatter, how interesting. But humans are still the same.

The sky is still blue and she likes black and white American comedies, jazz music, jeans, odango with sweet sauce and cute notebooks with little bunnies on the cover. She enjoys walking in a tank top and shorts in the sun along with hundreds of other girls without attracting anyone's attention when showing as much as your ankles was once considered utterly scandalous, eating noodles at a street counter late at night with a small cup of sake and even getting drunk if she cares to. The subway is fast and convenient, to get fresh water all you need to do is turn on the tap, and nobody has to care about gathering firewood for the winter. So she blends in deeper and deeper, she goes to class, works part-time in a convenience store to pay her rent, and she even gets a goldfish in a festival that she names Akai and keeps on her kitchen table in a glass salad bowl. She blends and merges, not forcefully, she repeats to herself while she looks at herself in the mirror and applies lipstick, until she almost feels like she is really part of it all.

Then her new neighbour knocks on the door to introduce himself and he is jovial and polite and slightly balding, but she still cannot help gasping and going pale while she holds onto the wall to stand upright.

"My wife and my two girls are moving in next week, they have a few things to take care of in our hometown. The apartment's still I mess, and I must say, I'm not really used to this kind of big city, but as soon as everything's settled, we'd be delighted if you came for tea one of these days. My oldest must not be much younger than you, she's just turned seventeen last week."

And while he babbles in a good-natured voice, the slightly embarrassed grin as if to say "sorry, I know I'm talking your ear off" making a startling contrast with his huge stature and rough features, she can only stare mutely at the tanned skin, the amber, almost golden eyes, and the flaming red hair. He finally takes leave and she watches with a pounding heart this amiable middle-aged man, looking clumsy rather than dangerous with his huge built, who once made whole countries tremble in fear, but no, not this one, it is not the same man. She still hides behind the staircase when she sees him going through the front gate.

Then she makes dinner, watches some stupid variety show on TV and the sun rises and the sun sets, and the sky is still blue and everything is peaceful. It is okay, she tells Akai in the glass salad-bowl, the doodles of strange triangular symbols on the bedside table and the strained face in the mirror, it is okay, and from now on, it will always be. And even when the handsome young man who likes to dress in green keeps sitting beside her in the lecture hall and finally asks her for coffee, she does not flinch, does not break, because well, things happen, just like that, and it does not mean anything.

There are no wild forests or rivers except far far away, and even there it is all boringly normal. The old trees are devoid of elves and nymphs, owls do not tell tales and the nomads in the desert have guns and cell phones. This body of hers cannot wield a sword, and she never tried to learn, because it would be useless anyway. She hears girls in her class dreaming aloud about fantastic lands and epic battles, and she smiles at their innocence, thinking that they really do not know about battlefields and blood-stained hands. War still exists, because humans will always be humans, but it is none of her concern anymore. She is just a girl, anonymous in a crowd of meaningless passer-by, without responsibilities, and she has earned it so many times. Earned the right to live for herself and enjoy the sunlight on her face.

No, it does not mean anything, so she decides she can humour him for a while, and they have more coffees and even dinner and he comes up for a drink in her apartment, and he talks and smiles and laughs and she looks emptily at something behind him, nodding along at everything he says. It might be guilt, she reflects, running her fingers on the white sheets in the dead of the night while he sleeps like a child, because he deserved to get what he wanted, again and again. The story never ended quite so happily all the previous times, so now that there is nothing to fight for and that everything is so light and simple, she can repent a little, and give him what he did not get when it really mattered.

So she keeps avoiding looking in his eyes, she takes the subway, watches old movies and listens to jazz music. She goes to class and works at the convenience store and walks in the sun and stops at girly cafes to have chocolate parfait with a cup of tea, and the sky is blue, and everything is peaceful. Because this is an era for such things, not for war, ancient curses and epic journeys to save the world. There are no wise princesses, no cruel villains and brave heroes in this world, no goddesses, no fate encounters. And every time a new ghost crosses her way in the street, she just closes her eyes and forgets it all.

She has stopped walking in circles and is now walking forward.

And when she goes to sleep after another normal, peaceful day, she does not notice the triangle-shaped mark that suddenly starts glowing on her hand. There is no noise coming from the apartment next door, and if she thought about it, she would realize that it has been two months, and no wife or daughter has ever been seen moving in.

The sky is blue, and everything is peaceful.


End file.
